Sexy industries and unemployment on the rise

By Alyssa Martino

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The unemployment rate in Massachusetts increased to 4.9 percent in May—shattering a four-month trend of steady decline—according to numbers released last Thursday by the Division of Unemployment Assistance.

Linnea Walsh, director of communications at the Department of Labor/Workforce Development, believes the numbers are "seasonal in nature," arguing an influx of recent college grads enlarges the worker pool, and that seasonality influences which sectors offer job opportunities. "Leisure and hospitality jobs tend to increase this time of year, as we gear up for the season," explains Walsh.

Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei, R-Wakefield, believes that the issue can't be solely attributed to seasonal hiring. "There's no one single problem to point to; it's actually a whole bunch of problems employers are dealing with," he says. "The high cost of doing business in Massachusetts and a number of anti-business actions taken by the legislature and the governor are having an even bigger impact by making companies more hesitant about creating new jobs."

Last month 1,400 jobs were created statewide.

"We continue to see solid job increases over the year," says Walsh. Education and health services are among the sectors with the greatest job growth, increasing 2.2 percent in the last year, with a boost of 400 jobs in May. Professional, scientific and business jobs also increased last month—jumping by 1.4 percent, or 700 jobs.

But real estate and leasing accounting declined, reflecting the housing crunch. Manufacturing and construction job numbers also fell.

"A lot of cyclical things come into play here ... there are job losses, but not huge ones," Walsh says, preferring enthusiasm. "Software publishing has been growing. They added 1,700 jobs over the year."

Gov. Deval Patrick's darling legislation for the life sciences (passed last week) is intended to jolt the state's industry.

"This groundbreaking legislation will help increase our talent pool and job opportunities, as well as attract new business," Walsh says.

Tisei insists that other industries remain neglected. This may explain why sectors that pay higher and require college degrees have seen growth, while "blue-collar" job opportunities decline.

"The problem is, the governor only seems interested in promoting some of the 'sexier' industries, such as life sciences and the movie industry, at the expense of all other businesses in the state," says Tisei.